Sometime in November - Munich
"Hey!" I smile to the camera on my phone, waiting for Yuzuru's face to appear on my screen "Isn't it late in Canada? Or I guess early in the morning...?"
"I couldn't sleep..." he sighs and I hear some shuffling before light floods his bedroom, finally making his face visible "What are you doing?"
"I'm uh getting donuts..." I admit with a sheepish grin, showing him the box I was holding with my other hand "Wait a sec, I need to open my door!"
"Donuts? Aren't you supposed to be on a healthy diet?" he chuckles, his voice still husky and a bit groggy.
"Mmm... I am..." I hum, kicking the door with my foot to close it before finally setting down the box of donuts in my kitchen "I'm just waiting for Nick, today's a cheat day so we're staying home and watching movies..."
"And eating junk food?"
"Yes, Yuzu I'm eating junk food! Promise I'll spend an extra hour in the gym tomorrow to work it off!" I laugh, rolling my eyes at him when he childishly sticks his tongue out "Besides, I need the donuts to calm him down. Apparently nobody told him yet that Chris slept with Javi this summer and he knows that Javi's avoiding him. So now it looks like I'm the only one who has the guts to do so!"
"Eh?" his brain finally catches up to whatever I was saying and his eyes widen slightly in response "I thought someone would have told him by now, Javi wanted to do it..."
"I guess he didn't..." I shrug, throwing myself on my couch with an disgraceful grunt, my muscles aching because of a rough ballet lesson from the previous day "How's he doing?"
"He's fine, annoyed that he didn't qualify for the Grand Prix finals..." Yuzuru answers quietly with a shrug, laying sideways and leaning on his elbow.
"At least he'll more time to prepare for Europeans..." I offer with yet another exhausted sigh "How are you? Anything new with your foot?"
"Not really..." he whispers with a sad look on his face "Brian still won't let me on the ice so my mom and I are going back to Japan next week."
"You are? Are you staying long?"
"Probably until the new year... I'll go back earlier if I can skate."
"Well at least you'll be with your family for the holidays..." I smile lightly, trying to make light of the situation "And your birthday!"
"Yeah..." he huffs before smiling tentatively at me "You know... The flight from Sendai to Nagoya's only one hour long..."
"Yuzu..." I sigh once again, hesitant to say anything that may upset him "I'm not sure it's such a good idea..."
"Come on... I'm gonna go crazy if I don't-"
"But I need to focus!" I cut him off, running a hand through my hair "Plus if you pull another stunt like what you did at NHK I might explode from all the gossip."
"It's not that bad..."
"That's because you're not the one getting death threats on social media!" I exclaim waiving my arm around in frustration "You don't even have social media! So all you see is those Japanese articles that basically just worship you as their god and question wether I'm worthy to even talk to you!"
"Look they're just a bit intense but-"
"Listen I have to go, my brother is gonna be here soon and I need to figure out what I'm gonna tell him..." I interrupt him again, smiling sadly at him "I promise I'll think about it."
"Okay... I'll talk to you next Sunday?"
"Yeah... But text me if you need to talk okay?" I wait until he nods before continuing, less worry in my tone "Say hi to Javi, Brian and Ghis for me!"
"You talk to Brian and Ghis more than you talk to me, you can tell them yourself!" he huffs dramatically making me giggle before I hang up, yet again a bit disheartened by my conversation with Yuzu.
~
December 7th, after the short program - Nagoya (Japan)
"Darianka!" one off the journalists from the press line screams at me, stopping me in my tracks despite my initial intention to just walk past all of them "Are you going to include the triple axel in your performance again here at the Grand Prix final?!"
"I never speak about my technical content before skating, so you'll just have to wait until tomorrow..." I answer politely, my lips pressed into a thin line.
"Darianka, what do you think off Evgenia Medvedeva's injury?" another one asks, trying to shove his microphone closer to me "Do you think it will help you win this Grand Prix final?!"
"I wish her all the best, a speedy recovery and I hope to see her at Europeans!" I answer sincerely, trying not to fidget with the zipper of my jacket "And I think that Zhenya makes competing a whole lot more interesting and challenging for me. Will I win because she withdrew from this event? Well I guess we'll never know but as I'm sure you know there are other women h- or girls here that are excellent skaters."
"What do you think of Alina Zagitova? She is in third place after the short program today but we know her free skate is technically difficult, what do you think will happen tomorrow?"
"I do not own a crystal ball so I can't tell you what's going to happen but I think she's young and in shape, improving quickly..." I start with a frown, unsure of what I'm really supposed to answer to this question "She obviously has a very difficult free skate and I guess I'm just hoping that she doesn't start landing triple axels anytime soon..."
"Do you think you need the triple axel to beat her? You came in first at the Cup of China without it, which Zagitova also competed at."
"I don't necessarily need it, no. But it's certainly an advantage, as I said Alina is improving quickly. It's all part of the competition process!"
"When did you start landing it?"
"As you all probably know I stopped skating before the Sochi Olympics because of a back injury and I hadn't landed a triple axel since then, until this summer."
"About this summer, where did you train?" a woman asks me, clearly with a Russian accent and I resist the urge to roll my eyes because the Russian media is never friendly to foreign skaters "Your free skate is choreographed by David Wilson, who works with Brian Orcer so did you..."
"Yes, I trained in Canada for a few weeks."
"There have been rumors about a change in coaching staff-"
"That's what they are: rumors." I interrupt the man, still smiling somewhat politely "My coach was also there, so I worked with him and the TCC team."
"Are you going straight back to your training base in Germany after this competition or are you planning to stay in Japan for some time?"
"As much as I'd love to spend some more time here and explore Nagoya I highly doubt there's a good enough excuse for me to do so instead of going back to training for Europeans." I answer, narrowing my eyes at the Japanese man, sensing the underlying goal of his question. Did they really think I was an idiot?
"It seems you have become quite close with Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu, do you have anything to say about that?"
"Yes, just one thing..." I smirk before looking at one of the cameras, this time with a genuine smile on my lips "Happy birthday Yuzu..."
As the crowd of reporters erupts into another wave of flashes and questions I wave at them one last time, a sly smirk etched on my face as I walk away without giving them the answers they so clearly craved all while still sparking their curiosity. Call me sadistic but they deserve it.
~
"Are you really not seeing Yuzu? I heard he was in Japan right now..." Nathan asks me when we have an early dinner together that night, catching up on everything that was happening in our lives.
"No I am, he's coming just before the gala..." I steal another spoonful of pasta from Nathan's plate, earning me a dark glare from him.
"Why did you order a salad if you're just gonna eat my food anyway?!"
"Because I wasn't hungry yet when we were ordering!"
"Do you want it?" he asks, pushing his plate towards me but I shake my head, stuffing some of my chicken Caesar salad into my mouth "So how's he doing?"
"Why do you ask?"
"Because, you said it yourself, it's not as interesting to compete without your biggest rival to challenge you..."
"Fair enough." I snort, recalling how catastrophic that interview was and how everyone is probably going to twist my words into something offensive or rude "To be honest I don't really know how he's doing, he doesn't say much about what's going on inside his head but I can tell it's not pretty..."
"I'm sure he'll be back sooner or later, stronger than ever to kick my ass again..." he chuckles but the mood is suddenly a bit somber, both of us understanding better than ever what he was going through.
"Well you better enjoy the unobstructed way to the top of the podium while you can!" I quip after a small silence, trying to ease the tension.
"Still on team Yuzu huh?" he laughs, shaking his head at me in disbelief.
"Always."
~
"What were you doing with Nathan?" is the first thing Yuzuru says to me when I find him waiting for in my hotel room after the exhibition gala of the Grand Prix final.
"Hello to you too..." I answer, my voice laced with irritation, having been pestered enough about it throughout the day "Oh why thank you, I am very happy to have won my first Grand Prix final. How are you on this lovely evening?"
"You didn't answer my question..." he says coldly, not moving from the bed as I drop my bag and jacket on the floor.
"Again with the jealousy Yuzu? I really don't have the energy for it right now..." I sigh, shooting him a pleading look that makes his features soften, even if just for a second.
"Well you tell me that you need to focus which is why you don't want to see me and yet you have the time to socialize with my biggest ri-"
"Not everything is about you! We're just friends..." I retort, crossing my arms over my chest defensively.
"It is about me when someone takes a picture of you two having a 'romantic dinner' together and sells it to the media!" he raises his voice, air quoting for emphasis "So maybe you should be more careful if you don't want people to write articles about you!"
"I don't think that's fair! It's not my fault if I don't choose to focus on hiding my personal life from everyone like you do!"
"Well maybe you'd be more concentrated if you stopped going out with other guys-"
"He's not exactly distracting to me."
"Oh yeah?!"
"Well I don't want to jump his bones every time I see him, so no!"
"I- what...?"
"Are you done yet? Because I haven't seen you in a while and I'm not in the mood for this crap..." I whine, leaning on the wall behind me as I sink to the floor, hugging my knees to my chest. I hear him sigh deeply before he gets up, kneeling before me and cupping my cheeks in his hand, tilting my head up towards himself, placing a soft kiss on my forehead.
"I'm sorry..." he whispers, wiping a tear that I hadn't even noticed away from my cheek with his thumb "I'm so sorry... I just-"
"What is wrong with you that you can't just trust me and let me be there for you without lashing out at me?" I try to keep my voice steady, staring right at him despite my vision being blurred by tears that were starting to well up in the corners of my eyes.
"I'm sorry... I'm not used to having someone who actually cares about me like that..." his voice cracks too when he pulls me up from the floor, hooking his arms around my waist and dragging me to the bed "I-i can't help but feel left out and hopeless..."
"I know... But still..." I sniffle as he wraps his arms and legs around me, allowing me to nuzzle into his chest.
"I'll be better, I promise." he says, rubbing comforting circles on my back, which were lulling me to sleep.
"Okay..." I exhale deeply, allowing myself to close my eyes.
"And I'll have my team put out a statement, maybe it'll help calm things down with the press..."
"Okay..."
~
A week later - Munich
"Darianka, can I speak to you in my office for a minute?" Misha peeks his head out as I was walking past the glass door, ready to head to my physiotherapy appointment.
"Um sure, what's up?" I try to shake off my surprise when I follow my coach into his office, not knowing what to expect.
"I wanted to- Are you okay?" he asks with a frown, seemingly concerned or at least concerned enough to put off whatever he had to say to me "You seem a bit off recently..."
"Uh I don't know... I'm just in a bit of a weird headspace right now and still a bit jet lagged..." I admit with a shrug, feeling as emotionally drained as one can get.
"What do you mean?"
"Well I'm really doing well this season and it helps with my confidence on the ice but everything else..." I explain, relaxing in my chair because I felt at ease speaking to Misha about this "It's just a lot. The expectations and the pressure, not to mention all the gossip articles are driving me nuts!"
"That's understandable, but don't worry kiddo they'll eventually find something else to talk about..." he tries to reassure me, smiling warmly in a way that always instantly managed to lift my spirits.
"Well it sure seems like my love life is all that interests them at the moment..." I scoff, rolling my eyes at the thought.
"About that, I spoke to your parents this week about all the media attention you've been getting and they agree with me that we should be changing the narrative a bit..." he starts hesitantly, carefully watching me to gage my reaction.
"And how are we supposed to do that?"
"They hired a manager for you." he says simply, crossing his arms on his chest and leaning back in his office chair "He actually specializes in marketing and publicity so he'll be able to handle the press from here on out."
"That's it?"
"You don't seem surprised"
"To be honest I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop..." I snort, implying that there's more to the story where my parents are concerned.
"Well this guy is good, not my first choice because his methods are a bit... unconventional but he's good at what he does."
"Okay... I mean I suppose he's just going to do his thing from wherever his overly fancy office is..."
"Actually..." Misha sighs, visibly trying to find a way to phrase his next words in a way that would not make me snap "Your mother insisted on him coming to work from Munich at least part time and he has to tag along to competitions from now on."
"Oh great..." I groan, no longer surprised by whatever that woman comes up with "So this means I actually have to deal with this person?"
"You have a meeting with him later today..."
"How wonderful..."
~
I shuffle my feet from where I'm stood near the door, waiting for the man to notice me after his assistant ushered me into the office without really saying anything. I roll my eyes, if it was at myself for acting like a grey mouse or the man for not paying attention to me I couldn't say but I gather my courage and clear my throat loudly, forcing him to look up from his papers.
"Hi, I think you're expecting me...?" I say a bit hesitantly but still keep my head held high "I'm Darianka Savchuk."
"Spencer Gibson." he says curtly, eyeing me with something akin to disappointment as far as I could tell "This is how you introduce yourself? Not very eloquent are you? We'll have you work on that."
"What?" I blurt out, my eyes widening in shock before I realize that I had just proved him partially right so I recompose myself "Excuse me?"
"Let's not pretend you didn't heat what I said." he quirks a brow at me and I make note of his very British accent as he gestures for me to sit down, his eyes going back to his papers "You could avoid a lot of mishaps if you knew how to speak to reporters properly."
"I'm not a politician though, am I?"
"I beg your pardon?" he does a double take, narrowing his eyes at me.
"I'm not a politician, I don't rehearse what I say because I don't have an agenda." I explain, trying to appear confident "I try to be myself and answer as honestly as possible."
"And yet you should have one."
"Huh?"
"An agenda." he clarifies, once again going back to his paperwork "You need to control the narrative instead of giving them room to interpret your words however they please."
"Well that's what you're here for, isn't it?" I bite back, my tone laced with irritation as he glances up at me and for just a second it seems as though his eyes are filled with curiosity.
"Yes, that is correct. However, I would rather teach you how to avoid making messes than keep cleaning them up."
"That's not how I-"
"So...I have a question..." he doesn't let me put a word in, flipping through the pages of his binder until finding what he was apparently looking for "Yuzuru Hanyu."
"What about him?" I feel myself stiffen as his eyes drill into mine, clearly looking for information that I wouldn't willingly give him.
"His publicist put out a statement last week."
"Yes."
"It said that you two had become very close over the summer and that what happened at the uh..." he looks back at his notes, reading from them "NHK Trophy was merely a friendly gesture to show his support and admiration for you."
"I still don't hear a question." I stare at him blankly, definitely not feeling like this man was even remotely trust worthy.
"Is it the truth?"
"Wha-"
"That you are just friends." he insists knowingly and emphasizes his words by leaning forward on his desk, his gaze scrutinizing me.
"Does it matter?"
"Yes, it matters wether or not he lied." he rolls his eyes, visibly losing patience with me "I need to know what to expect- Nevermind, I'll find out one way or another. I don't suppose you want to tell me about this... Nathan Chen fellow?"
"I do not see how that is any of your business, you're here to handle my career not my dating profile."
"The two go hand in hand when pictures of you with different guys appear in tabloids every other month."
"How dar-"
"Well listen, that's all the time I have today but I'll have my assistant send you your schedule once I have something figured out." he interrupts me once again, standing up from his chair and buttoning his suite jacket.
"What schedule?!"
"Interviews, photoshoots, meetings with sponsors..." he waves me off, showing me to the door but I stand my ground and stay put in the middle of the room, a defiant look in my eyes.
"No, not before the Olympics."
"Yes, before the Olympics!" he finally snaps, growling at me "You need to get people talking about you for different reasons-"
"I don't have time to-"
"You will find time."
"Who do you think you are, telling me what to-"
"You will do the interview for the Olympic channel after the European championships, that's not up for discussion. And I'll see about getting you some sponsors with a good reputation." he speaks with finality, opening the door of his office and taking one last look at me before leaving "I trust you can show yourself out!"
~
AN: fun chapter resuming some important events between NHK and European championships, which will be in the next chapter!
it's a bit longer than i thought it would and longer than usual soooo enjoy haha :)